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The Dark Side to Winning the Lottery

Winning Lotto Max Could Ruin Your Life

As one of the most popular lotteries in all of Canada, Lotto Max crowns dozens of big winners each year. However, many of these winners find that their good luck in lottery has led to bad luck in other aspects of life.

Since the names of Lotto Max winners are reported publicly, big winners get a lot of the wrong kind of attention. There are several examples of people who have won the lottery only to find that their lives become ruined if not derailed, and if you happen to pull in a big score, you should be aware of what you might be in for.

A Total Lack of Privacy

One of the most common complaints of Lotto Max winners is that they get hounded by the media. In an effort to get a story, a lot of members of the media will come to your home, follow you around and harass you in public.

When former Ontario school teacher Craig Henshaw won a $21.4 million Lotto Max prize in 2011, he had to hide out in a hotel room for over a week to escape the media. He also received over 365 texts the day his victory was announced. Many of the text messages came from former students and teachers who he worked with, many requesting Craig to pay their student loans or credit card bills.

The constant harassment was the main reason Henshaw resigned from teaching. Henshaw stated that he unfortunately had to let go of about 25% of his friends. In general, winning the Lotto Max results in a lot of unwanted attention.

The Motives of Your Family and Friends

When a large amount of money is dropped in your lap, it can feel like there’s a giant target on your back. Winning the lottery can make it feel like everyone who is nice to you has an ulterior motive.

It is hard to spend money on anything that you want for yourself when family or friends are having financial problems, but if you give them money to help, then they might expect more in the future. It is easy to become paranoid because there are people out there who will try to manipulate you into giving them money, and it can be very hard to figure out who is being sincere.

Falling for an Elaborate Trap

Some people might criticize lottery winners for being paranoid. However, Keith Gough is a great example of what can happen without this paranoia. Keith won about £9 million in a lottery in the United Kingdom, but he trusted people too much.

After his marriage was ruined because of all of the younger women he was meeting up with, Keith fell right into a trap set by con men who were using young, beautiful woman as bait. Once Keith ran through all of his money, he become a terrible alcoholic. He eventually died from alcohol abuse in 2010. It is possible he would still be alive today if he would have never won the lottery.

Criticism in the Media

In a perfect world, a person would be able to do whatever he or she wanted with his or her own money. However, Bob Erb learned the hard way that the media is not very kind. After winning about $25 million in the Lotto Max, Erb took up a number of causes that are important to him. Since marijuana legalization is important to Bob, he decided that he would spend over a million dollars in a big campaign to try to get it legalized. The media has eaten him alive because he wanted to support legislation to make marijuana okay in Canada.

Falling to Temptation

They say that when you get a lot of money, it can bring out your wild side. Robert Moffat won about £800,000 in the lottery and he ended up completely broke. Moffat blew through his money on cars, houses and other expensive purchases that he did not need.

After everything was said and done, the temptation was just too much for him. Moffat lost his wife and his pub that he ran before winning the money, and he found himself on the wrong side of the law when he was busted for driving under the influence of alcohol. At this point, he had no money left to spend and his life was changed forever.

Former teacher Craig Henshaw learnt the hard way how to say “No”. The best approach is to keep your winnings a secret.

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